Raised With the Wolves
by Mew Draiku
Summary: [YM x M] Malik's walking through the forest one day when suddenly, he comes upon a pack of wolves. What's weird about this pack, you ask? Well, one of its members is human.


Mew: SHWAA! I have returned!

Draiku: o.o" Wow.

Mew: As usual, I'm extremely sorry for not updating any of my stories, particularly Puppy. -shot- But I have not died! For now, here's a weird little fiction for you guys.

Draiku: -smacks Mew- Get to work! -gets out whip-

Mew: Yeah...I'm forcing myself to work on those, even with no inspiration. -sweatdrop- Anyway, if I don't have at least the next chapter of Puppy posted by March, you can shoot me as many times as you want with this staple gun. -hands you a gun-

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh...

Raised With the Wolves

Malik walked through the forest one day, smiling to himself as he enjoyed the crisp autumn breeze. He heard short yips and barking, blinked, and walked towards it. He had expected that it was a pack of stray dogs, but he was quite wrong.

Near the end of the trail, he found a den. He peered into it and gasped. There were wolves in there, and a few pups that were play-fighting loudly. Malik had to resist the urge to go "Aww!" really loudly. The wolf-pups were so cute!

The mother of these pups jumped in front of them, snarling and bristling. Malik froze and backed off a bit, mumbling an apology, even if she couldn't understand him.

The next thing he saw, however, was something he had never expected.

A human jumped to the side of the wolf and snarled, guarding the pups as well. Malik stared dumbly.

-

Marik had always wondered why he didn't look a thing like his pack members. He didn't have fur all over his body, or a tail, even, and his claws didn't retract. His ears didn't move, his face was flat, and his eyes didn't become slits during the day. And he also wondered why he had such a strange name, Marik. It meant "different" in his language.

But all of that didn't matter right now. What did matter was protecting his younger pack-mates. He growled a warning at them, but they didn't listen. Hardly anyone in the pack ever listened to him, except for his mother. He growled again, louder this time, but they still didn't listen. Finally, he was forced to bark at them loudly, and now they listened. They shuffled into the den, tails between their legs, and whimpered. Marik then growled at the strange creature in front of the den, warning it to get away. It stood there, frozen to the ground.

Then Marik stopped growling. He stared at this creature with wide eyes, realization dawning upon him.

This strange creature that stood on two legs looked almost exactly like him. He cautiously walked over to it and sniffed the thing's oddly-colored skin, which looked quite wrinkly. The creature jumped back, making a strange whimper that sounded like it was saying "No! Stay away!" Marik ignored the "warning" and advanced towards it again, sniffing again. The creature stared at him with wide eyes. Marik looked at its face, a face just like his own, and watched the thing make eye-contact with him. Marik growled and backed away. There was no way he was going to fight this weird creature, it smelled too funny, too unnatural. Marik didn't like it.

Marik's mother, Luna, padded over to him from inside the den. She was old, and rarely ever came out anymore. Marik looked to her and whimpered slightly.

"What is this thing? Why does it look like me?" he asked. She licked his face gently, and apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Marik. I've deceived you," she whimpered gently. He recoiled, as if she'd snapped at him.

"What do you mean??!" he growled.

"You're not one of us. You're one of him," she replied in a soft bark.

"What??! Impossible. I can't be one of him, I don't smell like one of him! I smell of you, and the rest of the pack!" he argued. She sighed softly.

"I didn't give birth to you, Marik. I only found you, while hunting, at the edge of the stream. So I took you to the pack and forced the others to accept you." Marik stared, not knowing what to say.

"But--!" he started.

"No. I'll leave you now. You can stay with us, or go with him, I'll respect your wishes," she replied, and went back into the den. Marik looked over to the strange creature again, growled, and dashed back into the den.

-

Malik couldn't believe what he had just seen. He turned, and dashed away back to the small town he lived in. Immediately he ran to the local police station, not knowing where else to go.

"There's a man in the woods!" he said, running to the front desk.

"So?" the officer replied. "Plenty of people go hiking around here."

"No, no—I mean he _lives_ in the woods, with a pack of wolves!" The officer snorted with laughter.

"I doubt that. Someone would have surely noticed by now if that were true," he said. "Bring me a photo and I'll believe you." Malik clenched his jaw.

"Fine. Have a camera?" The officer handed him a camera and Malik ran back to the woods, back to the den. He climbed a tree and hid in the branches. He waited a moment, then the strange man came out and sat in front of the den, as if he was thinking. Two pups came out and nuzzled him. He nuzzled them back and gently groomed them with his tongue. Malik snapped photo after photo with the digital camera, until he finally went back into the den. Malik climbed down from the tree and ran back to the station.

"Look! I got picture of him!" he said with a grin. He handed the camera to the officer and the officer looked through the pictures lazily. His eyes widened a bit more with each photo and his jaw dropped. He set down the camera and took out his two-way radio and called the other policemen. Malik smirked, feeling quite smug, and the officer looked at him.

"I guess you were right. Well, we'll go get him, but where will he stay? We can't keep him here, and there aren't any official places in this town. It's too small," he mumbled. Malik blinked.

"Maybe…maybe he could stay with me?" he suggested. The officer looked to him weirdly.

"But who's going to teach him how to be…human?"

"I could probably! I have a degree in language and another in animals," Malik replied. The officer still looked unsure.

"Fine," he finally said. The other policemen walked into the room and they left, piling into one of the vehicles.

-

Marik was sitting inside of the den, away from the rest of the pack. He stared at his front paws, or whatever they were, then looked to the front paws of the pack.

Totally different.

That's what they were. Different. Strange. Weird.

One of the pups nudged his flank gently. Marik looked at him as if to ask, "what is it?"

"Aren't you going to eat?" the pup asked. Marik looked away.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You should eat, though."

"I know. I just don't care."

"Okay, it's your choice. But don't blame me if you're hungry later." The pup turned away and bounded back to the group. Marik sighed softly when suddenly, everyone's ears stood. He sniffed the air, smelling something familiar. His mother snarled, and a few of the males went outside of the den to protect the young ones.

"Marik, stay back," his mother warned. Marik blinked.

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"I won't let them take you." He blinked again and his mother ran outside with the other males, but then he heard each of them let out a cry. He gasped and rushed towards the entrance to see his mother flop to the ground. _No, _he thought, horrified.

"Marik, run!" his mother managed out. Marik gasped. She was still alive!

"But I don't want to leave--!" he argued.

"Don't you argue with me, Marik!" she snarled, baring her teeth. Marik recoiled and lowered his head slightly. She stopped growling and gave him a sad smile. "Go. And Marik, I love you, no matter what you are."

With that said, she closed her eyes fell asleep.

Marik dashed out of the den as fast as he could go, not looking back. But he heard and smelt the strange creatures that were a lot like that other creature that had came earlier. Then he remembered that he himself was one of those things, but he shook it off. He kept running, when suddenly, something hit his neck. He skidded to a stop, felt his eyelids grow heavy, and fell asleep.

-

Marik awoke in a strange, metal thing. He looked around fearfully and saw that he had strange, soft, wrinkly skin covering his entire body, except for his head, hands, and feet. He used one of his front paws to lift the strange piece of skin covering his torso, and gasped. He felt no pain!

Then he heard voices. Strange, other-worldly sounds that he could not understand.

"Did you _have_ to put him in a cage?" said one voice. Marik listened intently.

"We didn't know where else to put him," another voice replied. It was deeper than the first. The strange wall opened up and in came two of those strange creatures.

"Here he is. We had to keep him out of sight until you arrived. What would the reporters say about us if they caught word that we kept a human being in a cage?" one creature said. Marik gasped. He recognized the other creature standing next to him! He snarled and bristled, baring his teeth. The creature from earlier, the one who he had first seen, knelt next to the cage. He pointed at himself with one of his front paws.

"Malik," was all he said. Marik stopped growling, but looked cautious.

"He's not gonna believe that. He was actually speaking with the wolves!"

"Well, I think he'll comprehend the fact that my name is Malik, at least," the creature said. Marik growled again. "See? You made him angry. Either that or he wants me to stay away." He pointed to himself again. "Malik." Marik blinked. The creature was pointing at himself, and saying that strange word…was that what he was, or his name? Marik pointed at him with a finger.

"M…Malik?" he said, feeling stupid all of a sudden. The creature seemed to bare his teeth at him, and Marik growled. The creature stopped and smiled instead.

"Malik," he said one more time, pointing at himself again.

"Malik," Marik replied. The creature then pointed at himself, the other creature, and at Marik.

"Human," he said. Marik raised one eyebrow. Now he knew that Malik was this thing's name, but what did he mean by human? Marik pointed at Malik and the other creature, then at himself.

"Human?" he repeated. Malik nodded, smiling still.

"Human," he clarified, again pointing to all three. So that's what these things were called. Human. And that's what Marik was as well. Marik tried to tell Malik his own name, but it didn't work. What _would_ his name be in this language, anyway? He made a guess.

"Marik," he said in Malik's language, pointing at himself. Malik and the other human gasped.

"Marik?" Malik said, pointing at him.

"Marik," Marik said again.

"I guess that's his name," Malik said to the human. "We can just call him that from now on." Marik reached out and touched Malik's shoulder gently. Malik blinked and Marik pointed at the strange metal thing that encased him. Malik blinked, then gasped. "Cage," he said.

"Cage…" Marik murmured. Malik nodded. He pointed at Marik.

"In cage," he said. Marik blinked.

"Marik…in cage?" he repeated. That meant that he was inside of it, he thought. Malik nodded again.

"Marik in cage," he clarified. Marik nodded, showing that he understood. After all, Malik did it whenever he understood something, or liked something Marik said. "He learns really quickly. His original parents must have taken care of him for a while before losing or deserting him," Malik told the other human. "That will make it easier for him to learn our language."

"Good!" the human said. "We don't want any savages running about."

"He's not a savage," Malik mumbled. "He can't help that he didn't have human parents." Marik blinked and yawned lazily. He lied down on the cage's floor and closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep, he was so tired. Malik blinked and stared at him.

"What did you do to him?" he asked the officer.

"We had to tranquilize him," the officer replied. Malik stared at him with wide eyes. "He ran away! There was nothing else we could do." Malik sighed.

"Poor guy. He must be exhausted. Well, should I take him to my place?" he asked. The officer nodded quickly, glad to be rid of this wolf-guy. "Okay, then. Can you open the cage, please?" The officer nodded and opened the cage.

Marik growled and backed up as far as he could go. What were these guys doing? Malik reached into the cage and held out a hand to Marik. Marik stared at him warily for a long moment, sniffed his hand, and finally slowly advanced out of the cage. Malik smiled and led him outside of the building, holding his hand gently. Marik followed him, sniffing the air carefully and trying to figure out what was going on, then he gasped when he saw one of _them_.

Like the rest of _them_ it had shiny flesh, and strange, circular paws. These things killed wolves and other creatures without remorse, and simply left the bodies to rot. Marik absolutely hated _them_. This one was different from the rest, it must have been a cub. It was smaller, and it was kind of shaped like a stretched-out opening to a cave. Marik growled, pulled away from Malik, and dashed to a bush. He hid behind it, peering out occasionally to see Malik staring at him, then at the shiny-fleshed thing.

Malik wondered why Marik had suddenly ran like that. He looked to Marik, then at his red Toyota, then back at Marik. Realization hit him, and he began doing something that would probably put him in the insane asylum. He hit and kicked—even bit—his car, trying to convince Marik that he was the boss of it. Marik watched with acute fascination.

Finally, to top it off, Malik used his keys as fake "claws" and slid them down his car—gently, of course—and pretended to make a cut. He opened the door of the car and grinned triumphantly at Marik, who was now coming out of hiding.

Marik carefully walked over to the thing and sniffed it, listening carefully. It had no heartbeat, and its scent was horrid, which meant that it was definitely dead. He looked up at Malik with wide eyes, wondering how someone so small and frail-looking could conquer this thing. Maybe the thing was just stupid, and didn't know what was going on until it was too late.

Malik opened up the back door of his car and motioned for Marik to get in. However, Marik only gave him this look that clearly stated "Are you insane??!" Malik sighed, climbed in himself, and demonstrated to Marik that it was okay. Marik finally climbed inside.

Marik watched as Malik positioned his body into a strange position, in which he put his back paws on the floor of the things belly and sat on his butt, with his knees straight in front of his waist. Malik then pulled what looked like a nerve or tendon from the creature and attached it to a small socket. It clicked, and Marik couldn't get out. Marik growled and gnawed on the tendon, but it tasted horrible. However, this was a matter of life and death, so it didn't matter.

Malik gasped and stopped Marik before he could ruin his teeth, and the seatbelt. He showed Marik that it was perfectly okay, and that the seatbelt would not hurt him at all. Marik still seemed unsure, and Malik prayed to every god that Marik wouldn't freak out when he started the car.

The gods ignored his prayers.

Malik turned the key, and the car sprang to life.

Marik let out a surprised cry and tried to get away and clawed at the smooth, hard, clear skin of the thing. He even clawed at the soft part of its belly above him.

Malik ignored all this. As long as Marik didn't bug him while he was driving, it was all right. He was thinking of buying a new car, anyway. He looked to the gas tank and noticed it going empty. He pulled into a gas station, turned off the car, and got out while Marik calmed down very slightly.

Marik watched as Malik grabbed a strange vine and put it into the backside of the thing. He let out a bark of laughter, and couldn't stop. This thing really was stupid! It couldn't tell its mouth from its backside! Some humans outside began to stare, but Marik didn't care. He kept laughing, until he ran out of breath.

Malik sweatdropped and ignored the odd stares he was getting. A man walked up to him and touched his shoulder.

"Yes?" Malik said, turning around quickly.

"Who is that guy in there?" the man demanded.

"Um, I don't really know, to tell you the truth. He's new here," Malik replied.

"Well, can you please tell him to stop laughing like that? He's scaring my kids."

"Oh! Sorry! I'll be sure to tell him to stop," Malik said quickly. He finished filling the gas tank and paid for the gas quickly, then climbed back into the car. Marik was still laughing. Malik turned around and growled threateningly, a warning for Marik to shut up.

Marik listened. He stayed quiet, but still grinned widely. He'd listen to Malik for now, since he didn't want to get in a fight with a person who could take out one of the things, and control it to his will. Marik watched the scenery as Malik led the thing to what looked like a large, fancy cave.

Malik got out of the car and opened Marik's door. He unbuckled him and led him inside.

"Marik," he said, though he knew that Marik wouldn't be able to understand what he said next, "this is your new home."

-

Marik slept on something Malik called a "couch." He gave him a strangely-colored sheet of moss to cover himself with, and a strange, soft rock to rest his head on. Marik wondered what these things were, since no rock was soft, and moss always fell apart. Malik called them "blankets" and "pillows," so that's what Marik called them as well.

Every few days the human, whose name was "Officer," as Malik called him, from the cage-place would visit and talk to Malik. Marik recognized a few of the words, but not all of them. He knew that they were talking about him, behind his back, although. So Marik made a plan. He knew that if he could fluently speak the humans' language, or at least some of it, Malik would move to a private area with Officer so Marik wouldn't hear. So every day Malik gave him a lesson on the humans' language, Marik would pretend not to know what he was talking about, but by the end of the month he could speak quite fluently.

Marik lied on the couch while listening to Officer and Malik speak.

"I'm not sure if he's making any progress," Malik said to Officer. "I keep trying to teach him English, but he can't speak, and when he does he always only says one or two words, like 'hungry' or 'tired.'"

"Then shall we take him to therapy?" Officer suggested. "We could transport him to a larger city—they have special facilities for people who can't understand a human language." Malik shook his head.

"No, he may just be language-disabled. The time I saw him growling at the wolf pup to go back into the den he might've just been copying the other wolves," Malik replied. "If that's the case, it will be harder to teach him to speak." Officer nodded.

"I see. Well, I'll give you one more month to teach him. Otherwise we'll send him away, alright?" Malik nodded, understanding.

"Alright. Thank you, officer," he said. Officer nodded and left. Malik sighed softly and sat next to Marik.

"What am I going to do with you?" he muttered. He had to admit that he had grown close to Marik, even if they could rarely understand each other. He enjoyed Marik's company, however odd it was.

Marik ignored him, though he had understood everything Officer and Malik had said. He yawned, closed his eyes, and pretended to fall asleep. Malik sighed again and gently patted Marik's side, muttering "Good night." He went upstairs to his own room and lied down.

Marik waited a few moments before going upstairs as well, silent as a mouse. His mother had taught him how to do this, and it was easy, especially in a place with nothing noisy to worry about, like dry leaves or sticks. He stalked into Malik's room and sat next to his bed, watching Malik slept. Marik didn't know the exact reason why he was doing this—he just liked doing it. Malik looked so peaceful when he was asleep, after all.

Marik felt his nose itch. He mentally gasped and ran out of the room as fast as he could, back downstairs, lied down on the couch, and sneezed. He heard Malik wake up for a split second, then fall asleep again. Marik sighed with relief.

"Malik…" he muttered to himself. He loved Malik like a true pack-brother, yet he hated him with all his heart. After all, Malik had taken him from his family.

-

Marik stared out the window longingly the next day. Malik walked into the room and noticed. He sat down next to him and tried to find what he was looking at.

"Wolf?" Malik asked. He knew that Marik could understand that word, and Marik nodded. Malik sighed softly. "Marik, I'm sorry," he muttered. "I know that you miss the wolves, but you're human. You belong here." Marik sighed with a huff and glared at him slightly. Malik resisted the urge to chuckle. Marik looked as if he was saying "talk in normal wolf-speech, idiot."

"Den," Marik muttered, looking back out the window. He knew that he had to keep up an act if Malik was ever going to believe that he truly couldn't understand enough English to make complex sentences. But this time, what he was saying was true. He wanted to go back—back to his mother and pack. "Leave. Go back," he added softly. Malik sighed sadly.

"Marik…you can't go. I'm really sorry, but…" Marik growled. He glared at Malik and bared his teeth.

"But what??!" he demanded. "But I can't go because I'm a savage of some sort??! Why should I be the one who has to stay, you're the one who took me out of my home! You're the one who took me away from my pack! If you ask me, I should have the right to leave! I should be able to choose when I want to go, no matter what!" he yelled. Malik stared at him with wide eyes.

"I…I thought it would be best…" he stuttered nervously.

"Best??! Best for who??! Definitely not me, I hate it here! I can't run anywhere, I can't do anything! The only time you let me outside is when I stay in your tiny little backyard and you're supervising! Back in the forest I was free to do what I wanted! I didn't need to be watched, or anything! You…you ruined my life!" He turned away and held his face in his hands. Malik gazed at him through eyes filled with tears waiting to fall. He reached out with a hand, but pulled it away and held it on his chest.

"Marik…I'm so sorry. I didn't know…" he whispered. "I thought that it would be better for you here, with the rest of the humans. I thought that…" Marik growled, cutting him off.

"You thought wrong," he hissed. Malik cried softly. "I could never fit in here. No one would accept me." Malik sighed, feeling pain tug at his heart.

"Then…if you want to…you can go back to the wolves. But…if they aren't there or something, you can always come back here," he mumbled. Marik snorted.

"As if I'd consider returning to the person who made me leave my pack," he hissed coldly. Malik said nothing. Marik stood and walked to the door. "I'm leaving now." He opened it, closed it behind him, and left.

-

Marik ran through the forest as fast as he could go, back to his den, back to his pack. He found it, but something smelled odd. He couldn't smell his mother. A pup wandered out and saw him. He let out a yip of surprise.

"Marik's back!" he yelled to the pack. Marik smiled slightly, it seemed as though they were happy he had returned. A full-grown, pure-white male stepped out and towards him.

"Leave," was all he said. Marik gasped.

"What??!" he exclaimed.

"Luna is dead. I'm pack leader now. And I make the decisions around here," the leader growled. Marik stared, but averted the leader's gaze.

"How…how did she die?" he muttered. The leader smirked evilly.

"I, Ashen, killed her. She was weak, Marik, and easy to kill. One bite to the neck was all it took," he hissed. Marik gasped.

"You…you killed her??!" he demanded.

"Of course I did. She wasn't fit to be leader," Ashen sniffed. Marik snarled.

"You…you bastard!" he roared. Ashen leapt and aimed for his throat, but Marik's arm flew up and blocked the deadly fangs. Ashen laughed.

"You see? You've become one of those things, the things that walk on two legs. Every time I attack one, their front leg flies up in defense of their neck. Just like you did. You should have dodged, like a proper wolf." Marik growled and yanked his arm away. Ashen backed off of him, and the rest of the pack came out of the den. They snarled at Marik.

"Leave! You don't belong here!" one yelled. Marik stared at them all. There was no way he could fight all of them and win, he had no fangs, claws, or protective hide. Marik turned and ran, out of Ashen's territory.

"That's it, run! Run, you worthless coward!" he heard Ashen's voice call to him. Marik felt tears sting his eyes and he kept running. He kept running until he fell asleep, right in the center of the forest.

-

_What am I?_ Marik thought to himself after he awoke the next day. _I can't be human, I can't be a wolf. So what can I be?_ He sighed sadly, leaning against the back of the tree, and stared into space. Suddenly, he heard a pitiful cry of pain, the cry of a wolf. Worse still, a wolf _pup_. Marik got up and ran towards the noise instinctively, just in time to see Ashen tearing at—no, torturing—a wolf pup.

"What are you doing??!" Marik demanded. Ashen looked up at him.

"I told you to stay out of my territory!" he snarled. Marik eyed the pup in front of Ashen, which was panting and whimpering.

"Why are you killing him??! What did he do?" he growled.

"He's weak. His mother still hunts for him, and he's already too old," Ashen growled. "In my pack, only the strong deserve to live." Marik growled.

"He's just a pup!" he retorted. Ashen smirked.

"What do I care? He's not my son, is he?" He used a claw to make a cut in the pup's flank. Marik immediately reached for the nearest thing he saw—a long, thick branch that had fallen off a tree. He had seen humans use these as weapons on the television at Malik's home to kill one another, so he figured that if it works on humans, then why wouldn't it work on wolves?

Marik swung with all his might, before Ashen could even react, and smacked the pack leader in the side of the head. He heard a gut-wrenching crack as the wolf's neck snapped in two, and he dropped the branch. He scooped up the pup and decided that it wouldn't live if it went back to the den.

"I'm going to take you to Malik, alright?" he said to the pup.

"Fine! I just don't wanna die!" the pup whined. Marik ran through the forest, all the way to Malik's home. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He banged on it hard, yelling.

"Malik! Open the door, please!" he cried.

-

Malik was sitting in his room, crying softly since Marik hadn't returned, right when suddenly he heard someone banging on his door. His first instinct was to be afraid, but then he heard that familiar voice.

"Malik! Open the door, please!"

"Marik?" Malik breathed. He hurried down the stairs and opened the door. "Marik!" he exclaimed. Marik pushed his way in, holding a bloody bundle of fur in his arms. He lied the thing down on the couch.

"Malik, please, help him!" Marik begged. Malik hurried over and realized that the bloody bundle of fur was a wolf-pup. He gasped.

"What happened to him??" he asked worriedly. Marik gave Malik the basic summary—that the new pack leader had decided to kill off the weak pups and other members of the pack and this pup was one of them.

"That's horrible," Malik muttered after getting out the medical equipment. "We really should take him to a veterinarian…" Marik growled.

"No!" he snapped. "Then they'll make him stay in captivity. He'll smell of humans after they release him, and the pack won't accept him!" Malik bit his lip.

"I guess you're right," he muttered. "Then we'll just have to help him out here." He and Marik gently cleansed the pup's wounds and applied medicine to them. Soon, they finished bandaging the pup. The pup nuzzled Marik gratefully and Marik smiled gently.

"What's his name?" Malik asked. Marik blinked and asked the pup what his name was.

"My name's Arcane. Mom named me it because I'm so quiet," the pup replied happily.

"His name's Arcane," Marik said to Malik. "He said that his mother named him that because he's so quiet."

"But she's gone now. Ashen killed her," Arcane muttered sadly, his ears drooping.

"I see," Marik mumbled. "Do you want to go back to the woods?" he offered.

"No, not yet. Not until I stop bleeding," he said. Marik translated for Malik.

"So can he stay?" he asked. Malik nodded.

"Of course he can! He can stay as long as he likes," he replied.

"Okay, thank you," Marik said. Malik smiled.

"Marik…if you don't mind me asking…why did you come back?" he asked. Marik looked away.

"The pack…kicked me out. Kind of," he muttered. "And they were right. I'm…not a wolf. And…is it alright if I stay with you?" Malik blinked.

"If you really want to," he replied.

"Thank you," Marik said, smiling gratefully. "And…I'm sorry for saying those things to you. I know that you were just trying to help…and that I should be glad."

"That's alright. I forgive you," Malik replied, smiling gently and gazing into Marik's eyes. Marik raised one eyebrow.

"Why do you do that?" he asked bluntly.

"Do what?" Malik replied.

"Stare at my eyes like that. Do you want to fight or something?" he said. Malik blinked again, then gasped.

"Well, no! But when humans speak to each other, we look each other in the eye to tell the other that we're listening, basically. It's considered polite, not threatening," he explained.

"Oh. So…you don't want to fight?" Marik asked, tilting his head to one side. Malik chuckled.

"No, not at all. You'd probably kill me if we fought," he replied, grinning.

"Then why are you baring your teeth at me??!" Marik demanded. Malik stopped.

"Baring my teeth…?" he repeated. Marik bared his teeth, as if to show him.

"Yeah, like this," he said. Malik laughed. Marik blinked. "What? What's funny?" he asked.

"I'm not baring my teeth when I do that, honestly! I'm just grinning. People do that when they're happy or something. It's kind of like an exaggerated form of a smile," Malik explained.

"Oh," Marik said, blushing slightly. Malik smiled.

"Well, how about we feed Arcane and go to bed?" he suggested. Marik nodded and asked Arcane if he was hungry or not.

"A little bit, yeah," Arcane replied.

"Then what do you want to eat?" Marik asked.

"Any kind of meat is fine," Arcane said with a slight grin. Marik told Malik this and Malik nodded.

"Okay, I think that there may be some ham in the fridge." He and Marik fed Arcane a bit of the ham, then they decided to go to bed.

"Do you want to use the bed tonight?" Malik offered. Marik blinked.

"The funny-looking couch, you mean?" he replied. Malik chuckled.

"Yeah," he said. Marik shook his head.

"No, the couch is just fine," he said.

"Are you sure?" Malik asked. Marik nodded.

"Yeah." He yawned and lied down on the couch, which still had the blanket and pillows on it. "G'night," he muttered. Malik smiled.

"Good night, Marik. And…I'm really glad you can speak human," he said. Marik blinked and looked up at him.

"Why's that?" he replied.

"I guess that I was just lonely without someone to talk to," Malik said, shrugging. "Well, see you in the morning." Marik nodded and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep as Malik walked up the stairs.

-

Marik awoke early, just three hours after he'd fallen asleep. He yawned and stretched, then listened closely to Malik sleeping. Arcane was cuddled up next to him, breathing softly. Normally Marik would wake Arcane up, but he knew that the pup must still be in pain from yesterday's events, so Marik let him be. He carefully got up, so he wouldn't disturb Arcane, and softly walked up the stairs into Malik's room.

Marik sat on the edge of Malik's bed and watched him sleep peacefully. It was dark, but Marik could see him from the lights of the digital clock sitting on the bed-stand. He kept watching him, then Marik carefully leaned over. He gently licked Malik's lips lovingly, as he'd seen wolf mates do before. Malik's eyes opened slowly and Marik instantly pulled back. Malik blinked and looked up at him trough tired eyes.

"Marik…? What are you doing? It's one in the morning," he muttered. Marik blushed, and Malik raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Marik replied quickly.

"Well, then what is it?" Malik asked. Marik looked away and scratched the back of his head.

"Malik…I was wondering…will you…will you be my mate?" he asked. Malik stared at him a moment.

"Your…mate?" he repeated. Marik nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I…I really like you. I don't know why, I just…do."

"Marik…what do you mean by mate? Do you mean a person to love, or a person to have children with?" Malik asked. Before Marik could answer, Malik spoke. "Because I don't exactly have the ability to have children. We're both male."

"I know that we're both male, and that you can't have children. I saw a program about mating on your television," Marik explained. "What I mean by mate, is a person to love." Malik grinned and sat up in his bed. He threw his arms around Marik tightly, nuzzling him gently. Marik gasped at the sudden contact, but then smiled and hugged Malik back.

"I love you too, Marik," Malik murmured. Marik smiled warmly. Malik pulled away a moment and gently kissed Marik's lips. Marik suddenly felt his instincts—his human ones—kick in, and he kissed Malik back with tender care. They pulled away and Malik gazed into Marik's eyes. But this time, Marik gazed right back, without growling or feeling uncomfortable. Because he knew that this feeling that he had was right, and that he had nothing to fear while with him.

End

Mew: Yeah. Ending sucks. I know. -shot-

Draiku: Yes it does! -laughs-

Mew: -sweatdrop- Anyway, I promise that I'll work on Puppy, When Houses Collide, and any others you want me to. -sweatdrop- As usual, thank you for reading, and please R&R! -bows-


End file.
